


Five Times Spot Conlon and Racetrack Higgins Were "Just Friends" and One Time They Weren't

by theunionawakes



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-08
Updated: 2014-08-08
Packaged: 2018-02-12 09:00:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2103618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theunionawakes/pseuds/theunionawakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The title is fairly self-explanatory.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Spot Conlon and Racetrack Higgins Were "Just Friends" and One Time They Weren't

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first work here! One of my friends on tumblr did me a small favor so this was how I repaid her. Hope you enjoy.

**one**

_From:_ Race Higgins

_1:47 PM, 10/18/13_

club meeting at jacobi’s afterschool. care to join?

 

_From:_ Spot Conlon

_1:48 PM, 10/18/13_

yeah. meet u at ur locker after class.

\----

Race tapped his foot impatiently on the gray tiles in the English hallway. He had been waiting for Spot for almost 10 minutes, and there were no students left in the halls on account of the unseasonably warm weather on that Friday afternoon. _Spot was the one who wanted to meet at the lockers, and he can't even bother to be on time? Classic Spot. Just 'cause he’s student body president don't give him the right to throw off everyone else’s_ _schedules_ , Race thought. Putting his abnormally-sized headphones on, Race slid down the green lockers, put on an obnoxious rap song, and closed his eyes with a sigh.

Spot sauntered down the hallway with his usual swagger a few minutes later, unbeknownst to Race who was oblivious to the outside world. Approaching the seemingly-sleeping blonde, he snatched the headphones off of Race’s head.

“What the hell, Spot? Ever heard-a sayin’ hello?” he exclaimed, leaping to his feet and grabbing back his headphones. "I swear to god, if you make me late to this meeting, Conlon-” he started.

“Don’t get ya panties in a twist, Race. We ain’t gonna be late.”

“The meeting is in 10 minutes-“

“And it’s a five minute walk to Jacobi’s. Calm down.”

Race shook his head in frustration. “I will not calm down. Now let’s go before Jack has our heads on a platter.”

He grabbed the other boys wrist, pulling down the hallway and trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

**two**

Race had no idea why Spot actually cared about the newspaper club. Maybe it was some sort of responsibility as student body president to at least pretend to care about everything? Either way, Race was surprised when Spot showed up to the meeting with Pulitzer in their defense. To be honest, Race was grateful. After the first fight against Pulitzer, they could use all of the help they could get.

\----

"We won!" Cheers erupted in the hallway as Jack shouted those two words out of the doorway of Pulitzer’s office. All of the students who had rallied in support of the newspaper club were jumping up and down and shrieking with joy. All of the “Newsies” as they were now called hugged, and a few started crying.

"Ya did it, Higgins," Spot said, approaching the blonde in the hallway. "Would never-a thought ya had it in ya, but ya did it."

"No thanks ta you, dumbass," Race responded, punching Spot in the shoulder. "We couldn’t-a done it without ‘cha. Thanks, I mean it."

"Don’ mention it. That’s whatcha do for friends, yeah?" Spot said. He extended a hand to Race, which the latter accepted.

"I think we’s gonna celebrate at Jacobi’s if ya wanna join us?" Race asked. "Like I said, we owe ya."

“Sounds good ta me.” Somewhere in the crowd, someone shouted at Race to “stop flirting with your boyfriend and celebrate, motherfucker!” _He’s not my boyfriend_ , both boys thought simultaneously while trying not to show the other the hints of disappointment on their faces.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**three**

From: Spot Conlon

9:32 AM 12/20/13

jacobis after school. 12 sharp. don’t be late.

 

From: Race Higgins

9:45 AM 12/20/13

praise god for half days.

\----

_The hell is this about?_ Race thought, slipping his phone into his pocket. The club fiasco had been settled for a few months now; why did Spot want to get together? Looking out the window, Race realized that it had started to snow. It was going to be a cold walk to the deli.

\----

Spot Conlon hardly got nervous. Not before standardized tests, or class presentations, or even standing up for the newsies. So what the hell was going on? Okay, so he was going out to grab lunch with Race before the holiday break. What the hell was the big deal?

\----

Spot was already at a corner booth when Race entered, shaking snow everywhere. He flagged him down, and Race quickly made his way through the deli.

“I ordered hot chocolate, that okay?” Spot asked as Race sat down. “Figured ya might be kinda cold; the snow really started comin’ down.”

“Thanks, yeah. It’s like a fuckin’ blizzard out there,” he answered, hanging his coat and scarf on a hook. “So what’s the occasion? No school for a week and a half? Christmas? New Years?”

“Well, all of the above. But it’s been a while so I “seized the day” as your pal Davey likes to put it.”

Race laughed. “Kid surely has a way with words, don’t he?”

“He sure does.”

The two of them bantered back and forth for a while over a pastrami on rye (and a few hot chocolates) until Race realized he had to get home.

“Shit, my folks are gonna be worried,” he said, checking his phone.

“Let me walk ya home,” Spot offered. “Can’t letcha get lost in the blizzard; I think Jacky-boy would kill me.”

“I think I would too, if I ever made it out!”

\----

Nothing happened that afternoon. Well, nothing dramatic. But both boys went home with heavy hearts, confused minds, and full stomachs. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**four**

Over the next few months, Race and Spot had many similar lunch meet-ups at Jacobi’s. Always in the same booth, and at a certain point all of the waiters knew their order. Not that it was complicated or anything, but it was always the same.

Well, except for the one time it wasn’t.

Everything was awkward. Spot was eerily silent, and Race pretended not to notice until they were halfway to Race’s apartment.

“I wasn’t gonna ask ‘cause I know you won’t answer, but fuck it. What’s up, Spot? Ya hardly said anything all afternoon and that is not like ya. What’s goin’ on?” he asked as they walked.

“It’s nothin’, Race. Don’t worry ‘bout it.”

Race stopped, grabbing Spot’s shoulder. “Don’ lie, Spot. I know it ain’t nothin’ and I hate seein’ ya all quiet like this. Makes me worried you’re gonna-” He was cut off by Spot’s lips crashing against his own. He was frazzled for a second, caught completely off guard. But he quickly melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Spot’s waist and pulling him closer.

“Gonna do that?” Spot whispered as they broke apart, although his body was still pressed up against Race's.

“Not exactly,” Race said with a chuckle. “But that was a helluva lot better than what I was thinkin’.”

Spot shook his head, relief evident on his face. “I’ve been so freaked out, Race. I didn’t know if you were…… or if you liked me….. and I didn’t want to do nothin’ cause I didn’t wanna screw this up, ya know?”

Race slipped his hand into Spot’s. “I am, and I do. And you ain’t screwin’ nothin’ up. It’d probably be worse for us both if we did nothin’; we’d just be miserable ’n awkward ‘round each other.”

Spot laughed. “Guess you’re right. Do ya, uh, maybe wanna head back to my place? Just to, like, hang or whatever?” Race pressed a quick kiss to Spot’s lips. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**five**

Race sighed deeply as he (once again) waited for Spot in an empty hallway. It was the last day of finals and he wanted nothing more than to go home and crush Spot in Mario Kart. But Spot was late. Again.

From: Race Higgins

2:18 PM 6/17/14

u coming? school is over, u cant possibly have detention

 

And of course, as soon as the text was sent, Spot rounded the corner, grinning ear to ear. “Junior year is finally over. We survived!” he shouted.

Race rolled his eyes. “Then can we get the hell outta here? I’m so done,” he responded, trying not to show how annoyed he was.

Scanning the hallway to make sure no one was around, Spot quickly pressed a kiss to Race’s lips. “Sounds good to me. You’re going to Jack’s for the party tonight, though, yeah? Wanna just go after we hang at your place?”

Race nodded, then took a deep breath. “On one condition.” Spot looked at him skeptically. “We go together.” Spot was confused for a second, then realized what Race was insinuating.

“You mean, like, together together? Race, I-”

“I’m tired a’ hidin’, Spot. I hate that we only kiss when there’s no one around, that you basically avoid me at parties so the guys don’t think we’s together. I wanna be with you, Spot,” he said, more gently, taking the other boy’s hand. “And I want people to know that. I ain’t ashamed of us-”

“Neither am I, Race, but-”

“Prove it. Come to Jack’s party with me. We don’t gotta make no big announcement or nothin’ but if people ask, yeah, we’s together and we’s goddamn happy about it. Kay?” he finished, looking Spot straight in the eye and taking both of his hands. “ _Kay??_ ”

“Kay.” Race leaned in but Spot stopped him. “Wait does this mean we’re gonna tell our parents too? ‘Cause I ain’t sure I’m ready for that.”

Race shook his head. “We don’t gotta do that now. I know that’s a lot and I ain’t gonna force that on you now. But the guys and Katherine and Smalls can be the first step.” He leaned back in and kissed Spot, with gentler passion than the kiss earlier. “You ready to get your ass whooped in Mario Kart, Conlon?”

Spot laughed. “I should ask the same of you, Higgins!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**+one**

After spending the afternoon together at Race’s apartment (and Race keeping his promise of beating Spot in Mario Kart) the time for Jack’s party had arrived. The two boys stayed hand in hand almost the entire journey over. Race could tell that Spot was nervous by how he kept absentmindedly squeezing Race’s hand, occasionally a bit too hard.

“You okay, Spot?” Race asked quietly on the train. “We don’t gotta do this tonight, if you don’t wanna. I know I shouldn’t pressure ya into this.”

Spot shook his head. “It’s okay. It’s gotta happen sometime. Like ya said, I ain’t ashamed of us.” Race smiled and put his head on Spot’s shoulder.

“Thank ya, Spot.”

\----

They made it to Jack’s a little while later, and Spot squeezed Race’s hand again as the latter knocked on the apartment door. A muffled shout of “it’s open” came from somewhere inside, and Race pushed open the door.

The boys (and Katherine and Smalls) were all scattered around the living room while Romeo and Elmer faced off in Just Dance. They all yelled some sort of hello as Spot and Race entered, hands still intertwined. Jack got up to greet them, and said nothing about them holding hands but gave Race a look that Race took to mean that he approved.

The rest of the night went surprisingly smooth. Like Jack, none of the guys asked about them, but it was clear that they accepted and were happy for them.

\----

“Hey guys,” Katherine said with a yawn, when everyone was sprawled on the floor sometime around 2 AM. “Anyone wanna play truth or dare?” A few heads popped up at this. “Smalls, truth or dare?”

The game went around a bit until finally, a very tired Romeo asked Spot. “Hey, Spot, truth or dare?”

Spot groaned. “Truth because I don’t feel like moving.”

“Are you and Race together?”

Silence. “Yeah,” Spot said, looking over at Race, asleep next to him. “Yeah, we are.”


End file.
